This was the season that the Los Angeles Lakers, coming off four consecutive seasons with less than 30 wins, were supposed to finally show signs of becoming something other than a tanking waste biding time for young players to develop and star free agents to become available. The plan was supposed to go like this:…

The Los Angeles Lakers are at a crossroads. They’ve been in a lull for five seasons now, Kobe Bryant’s 60-point salvo notwithstanding, and with the looming free agencies of Paul George and, um, that guy in Cleveland, the time has come for the young players they’ve accrued over the past few years to show that they’re…

Whatever happens in Los Angeles during this upcoming NBA regular season, and until further notice, Lonzo Ball is the new face of the Lakers. You can kind of read that in this breathless Ohm Youngmisuk recap of last night’s Lakers preseason game against the Timberwolves: